Chapter 100 - 99: Day 10, the Last Day

Chapter 100: Chapter 99: Day 10, the Last Day

Ji Zhixing looked up at the sky. As the blood sun set, a beam of red light shot into the heavens from within the Blood Beast Secret Realm. It exploded in the sky, transforming into a massive screen of light.

The third day’s leaderboard appeared right on time.

The group immediately looked up. The rankings were clear at a glance on the light screen. The top three remained unchanged. However...

Fourth place: Ji Zhixing, Regular Class 21. Points: 145,000.

Fifth place: Ye Chutong, Genius Class. Points: 143,000.

"Fourth! You’re really in fourth place!" Zhou Han shouted excitedly.

Su Qing also clapped her hands in thrill. "You actually pushed Ye Chutong from the Genius Class down!"

The corners of Xiao Mingyue’s mouth curled up slightly. Her eyes held a smile, though she didn’t say anything.

Ji Zhixing looked at his name on the screen, muttering slightly in his heart.

"One hundred forty-five thousand points... Fourth place..." He thought to himself, "This is getting a bit too conspicuous. But it shouldn’t be a big problem. After all, the only things I’ve brought out are Blood Crystals. In other aspects, my luck has been better than most, but only to a limited extent."

Taking a deep breath, he suppressed his swirling thoughts.

Meanwhile, the other Yu City University students in the secret realm stared at the leaderboard in the sky, momentarily stunned.

"Ji Zhixing... Him again?"

"He’s in fourth place? He even pushed Ye Chutong down?"

"Incredible! Just how did he do it?"

Discussions broke out in every corner of the secret realm.

In a blood-red forest.

Gu Zheng stood beneath a large tree, looking up at the light screen with a rapidly shifting expression. His gaze was dead-set on the fourth-place position, glaring at that name.

"Ji Zhixing..." he squeezed the name through his gritted teeth, his clenched fists popping with a sharp CRACK. "He moved up another rank..."

Elsewhere in the secret realm.

A girl was just preparing to rest when she heard the commotion in the sky and glanced up. She had a beautiful, clear face and long hair draped over her shoulders. It was none other than Ye Chutong, who had originally been in fourth place.

Seeing her name drop from fourth to fifth, she frowned slightly.

"Ji Zhixing..." She murmured his name, her eyes lingering on the screen for a few seconds. Then, she stood up, grabbed her sword, and charged into the night. "I’m not sleeping tonight. I’ll hunt a few more Tier Two Blood Beasts and take my ranking back tomorrow."

Atop a massive boulder.

A burly young man sat on the rock, gazing up at the light screen in the sky. With rugged features and clad in dark gold armor, he was Cao Zhenxing, the current rank one.

"Ji Zhixing?" He shook his head slightly.

To him, Ji Zhixing’s rise in the rankings was nothing special. Even if a student from a regular class had a heaven-defying performance, it meant nothing to him. After all, he had integrated the Tier Five Bright Moon grade Celestial River Profound Water Turtle gene; he wasn’t someone ordinary people could compare to. He had never even taken the other students in the Genius Class seriously.

"If my speed in finding Tier Two Blood Beasts wasn’t so slow, my points would definitely be far more than this," he muttered to himself.

"Alright, that’s enough talk. Let’s all rest early today," Xiao Mingyue said, standing up and glancing at Ji Zhixing after their group finished looking at the leaderboard.

The others nodded. After bidding each other goodnight, they all retreated into their respective tents.

"Time to continue refining the Five Elements Potions," Ji Zhixing thought. As soon as he entered his tent, he sat cross-legged and began refining the Five Elements Attribute Genetic Development Potions.

Within his genetic aperture, the phantom projection of the willow tree trembled slightly. As it continuously absorbed the medicinal power, the five-colored light on its branches grew a fraction denser.

Ji Zhixing refined the potions one bottle after another. Whenever he felt his Spiritual Power waning, he would drink a Spiritual Power Recovery Potion given to him by Xiao Mingyue and then continue refining. It was only after he had refined five bottles of the Five Elements Attribute Genetic Potion that he finally stopped.

"I should go out and take a look." Concluding his refinement, he pondered for a moment before stepping out of his tent.

"As expected!" The moment he emerged, he saw Xiao Mingyue sitting outside her tent without resting, just as she did every day.

Hearing the noise, Xiao Mingyue turned her head. Seeing it was him, a faint smile appeared on her face. Ji Zhixing shook his head and walked over to sit beside her. This time, he didn’t ask why she wasn’t sleeping.

Days passed one by one.

Over the next few days, the five of them went to different places every day to hunt Blood Beasts. As for Ji Zhixing, he practiced the Nine-Tiered Tide Rod while hunting. Then, at night, he refined the Five Elements Potions and Blood Crystals.

He wanted to control his points. However, because everyone’s strength had grown and they continuously yielded their hunted Blood Beasts to him, he couldn’t control it even if he wanted to. After all, he couldn’t just let his luck suddenly take a nosedive. That would be too conspicuous. Anyone could tell at a glance, and it would only make it look like he was hiding something.

Thus, over the course of the next few days, his points climbed steadily.

On the fourth day, his rank remained fourth. He hadn’t been overtaken by Ye Chutong; instead, he had widened the gap between them.

By the fifth day, he surpassed Xiang Lin, who was originally in third place.

On the sixth day, his points surged again, nearly catching up to Meng Feiyi in second place.

On the seventh day, Meng Feiyi was also pushed down below him.

Then came the eighth day.

And the ninth day.

When the ninth day ended, his points had astonishingly reached 625,000. He was only 20,000 points behind the first-place Cao Zhenxing.

Such a ranking and point total left Ji Zhixing feeling rather helpless, but there was nothing he could do. Zhou Han and the others were practically carrying him to the top. Every day, the moment they woke up, they would excitedly drag him out to hunt Blood Beasts. And almost all the Blood Beasts they killed were given to him to refine.

"Tomorrow is the tenth day," he thought. "We’ll be leaving the Blood Beast Secret Realm then. Plus, first thing tomorrow morning, we’ll go figure out a way to get that Earth Spirit Blood Ginseng. I shouldn’t be able to take first place, right?"

Ji Zhixing secretly shook his head. In truth, getting to this point, even if he really took first place, it wouldn’t matter much anymore.

"What are you thinking about?" Xiao Mingyue turned her head and asked, noticing his silence.

The night was already deep, and the others had long since fallen asleep in their tents. However, over these past few days, the two of them had grown accustomed to sitting outside together for a while every night. Sometimes they would silently gaze at the night sky, and other times they would quietly exchange a few words.

"Nothing, just thinking about how tomorrow is the day we leave the secret realm."

"Yeah, tomorrow we’re leaving the secret realm," Xiao Mingyue nodded.

Afterward, the two of them fell into silence.

The tenth day.

Early in the morning, as the blood sun began to rise, Ji Zhixing and the other four woke up early, packed their tents, and made their preparations.

"Let’s go. It’s time to move." Taking a deep breath, Xiao Mingyue led the way toward the direction of the cave.

The five of them entered the cave, heading all the way down the winding passage. It was very dark inside. Xiao Mingyue took out her lamp, its soft white light illuminating the path ahead.

After walking for about ten minutes, they arrived at the underground space inhabited by the Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles. The Blood River was still flowing, and a few Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles could occasionally be seen bobbing on the surface. But unlike the previous days, the moment those Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles saw them, they immediately sank to the bottom of the water, not even daring to show their heads.

"They’ve been scared off by our killing," Zhou Han chuckled.

"Ignore them. Business first." Xiao Mingyue took the lead and jumped into the Blood River.

Ji Zhixing followed closely behind, and then Zhou Han, Tie Shan, and Su Qing. The five of them entered the bloody water and swam toward the underground space where the giant snake—which Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue had previously discovered—was located.

Zhou Han, Tie Shan, and Su Qing also knew how to swim, but they didn’t have underwater Genetic Equipment like Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue did. The three swam strenuously in the back; although their posture was average, their speed wasn’t slow.

About three or four minutes later, the five arrived at that underground space.

"Nothing unusual," Zhou Han whispered.

"This way." Ji Zhixing led the group toward the underground passage they had discovered earlier, which was situated in a corner of this space.

"Su Qing, you stay here," Xiao Mingyue said, turning her head.

"Okay," Su Qing nodded, stopping at the entrance of the passage.

Afterward, Ji Zhixing, Xiao Mingyue, Zhou Han, and Tie Shan walked down the passage. They headed down, and after covering about a third of the distance, Xiao Mingyue had Zhou Han stop. Then, Ji Zhixing, Xiao Mingyue, and Tie Shan continued further down.

After walking another third of the distance, Xiao Mingyue told Tie Shan to stop as well.

"You two be careful," Tie Shan said, holding his shield. "I’ll make some noise in three minutes."

"Alright," Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue nodded.

They then continued their descent. Finally, the two arrived at a spot not far from the space below. However, it was perfectly situated around a corner, making it invisible from the bottom.

"Right here," Xiao Mingyue lowered her voice.

Ji Zhixing nodded and retrieved the Chameleon Cloth from his Gene Furnace. He and Xiao Mingyue squeezed together in the corner, then draped the Chameleon Cloth over themselves. Once activated, the Chameleon Cloth automatically blended with the surrounding environment, looking exactly like the rock wall and completely concealing their auras.

Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.

The passage was incredibly quiet, with only the occasional sound of dripping water. After a little over three minutes, a loud shout suddenly echoed from above. It was Tie Shan’s voice.

"You beast! Come up here!!"

The voice was loud, echoing through the passage. Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue held their breath, remaining absolutely still. A moment later, a rustling sound came from below.

SLITHER!

It was the sound of snake scales scraping against the rock. The noise grew closer and clearer. Ji Zhixing could feel that the giant snake was crawling out of its nest and heading up the passage.

He and Xiao Mingyue exchanged a glance, neither daring to move a muscle. The sound of scales scraping came closer and closer, practically right next to them. Ji Zhixing could even hear the sound of the snake flicking its tongue.

The noise lingered near them for a moment before continuing upward, slithering toward Tie Shan’s direction.

"We’re good." Feeling that the snake had gone far enough away, Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue looked at each other, instantly threw off the Chameleon Cloth, and rushed out from the corner.

The two dashed downwards, charging toward the giant snake’s nest. The passage was very short, reaching its end in just a few steps. Stepping out of the passage, they were greeted by a small space of only a few dozen square meters.

In the exact center of the space, the giant snake was no longer there. All that was left was an indentation where it had coiled, the crushed stones on the ground pressed smooth and flat. Meanwhile, in the corner of the space, that blood-colored Lingzhi the size of a round table, exuding a bizarre aura, was growing quietly.